OSH, Kyrgyzstan -- Officials in the southern Kyrgyz city of Osh have detained an alleged member of a banned Islamic group.

Officials said the 37-year-old resident of Aksy district was detained on February 4 on suspicion of being an active member of Hizb ut-Tahrir, which the government branded an extremist organization and banned several years ago.

Authorities in the Central Asian nation say the group plays a role in a strategy used by Al-Qaeda and Islamic State militants to radicalize youth and recruit them to fight in Syria and Iraq.

Hizb ut-Tahrir says it is peaceful.

On February 3, a 26-year-old man was arrested in Osh on suspicion of being a member of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU).

The IMU, which is active in Afghanistan and Pakistan, is on the U.S. State Department's list of foreign terrorist organizations.